Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, right, recently was invited to the Louvre in Paris for a private dinner of patrons. Alvarez met with Jean-Luc Martinez, the president-director of the museum, where the Mona Lisa is housed, background. less

Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, right, recently was invited to the Louvre in Paris for a private dinner of patrons. Alvarez met with Jean-Luc ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo

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At a recent private dinner at the Louvre in Paris, Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, right, met with the museum president-director, Jean-Luc Martinez, left, and arts patron Hans Miller. less

At a recent private dinner at the Louvre in Paris, Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, right, met with the museum president-director, Jean-Luc Martinez, ... more

Photo: Stephane Oliver / Contributed Photo

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Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, seated at left, was one of 100 patrons who was invited to a recent private dinner in the Painting Department of the Louvre in Paris. less

Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, seated at left, was one of 100 patrons who was invited to a recent private dinner in the Painting Department of the ... more

Photo: Stephane Oliver / Contributed Photo

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Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, was inspired by the selflessness and humanitarianism of his grandmother, Clementia, who was about 20 years old when this photograph was taken. less

Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, was inspired by the selflessness and humanitarianism of his grandmother, Clementia, who was about 20 years old when ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo

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Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, was one of 100 patrons who was invited to a recent private dinner in the Painting Department of the Louvre in Paris.

Fernando Luis Alvarez, Stamford gallery owner and founder of the Clementina Arts Foundation, was one of 100 patrons who was invited to a recent private dinner in the Painting Department of the Louvre in Paris.

Photo: Stephane Oliver / Contributed Photo

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As part of its mission, the Clementina Arts Foundation is involved with several world museums, including the Tate in London and the Louvre in Paris, where four plaques have been installed noting the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery's support of various programs and exhibitions. The gallery funds the objectives of the foundation. less

As part of its mission, the Clementina Arts Foundation is involved with several world museums, including the Tate in London and the Louvre in Paris, where four plaques have been installed noting the Fernando ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo

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As part of its mission, the Clementina Arts Foundation is involved with several world museums, including the Tate in London and the Louvre in Paris, where four plaques have been installed noting the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery's support of various programs and exhibitions. The gallery funds the objectives of the foundation. less

As part of its mission, the Clementina Arts Foundation is involved with several world museums, including the Tate in London and the Louvre in Paris, where four plaques have been installed noting the Fernando ... more

STAMFORD — Fernando Luis Alvarez’s grandmother had a simple philosophy: “Do small things in a great way.”

Alvarez, whose art gallery bearing his name opened nearly nine years ago at 96 Bedford St., took his grandmother Clementina’s words to heart and established the Clementina Arts Foundation.

“I always like to empower in any way, shape or form, whether it is through money or wisdom,” he said. “I believe every human being should reach to their potential. That was how I was raised by Clementina.”

Alvarez was born in Greenwich, but moved to Colombia when he was 3 years old to live with his grandmother until he was 12.

“Besides her being a great mother, a great father, a great friend, something rose above them and that was her wisdom, an example she gave on a daily basis,” Alvarez said. “Her work ethic, her work in the community, with limited means, the respect she garnered — it was all about giving.”

Whenever there was a need, his grandmother stepped up with Alvarez by her side. Colombia in the 1970s and ‘80s was turbulent, but Clementina’s tenacity and strength persevered and left indelible marks on her grandson.

When Alvarez opened his gallery in 2009, he took a risk when the economy had tanked. But he was undeterred.

“I wanted to have an art place, not necessarily to make money, but to give back to my community and also to help the artist community. It was about creating a platform to give on both sides of the equation — to the artist we are trying to help and to the community through the impact of the arts.”

Employing Clementina’s philosophy, Alvarez created the nonprofit arts foundation, which features three programs: Kid Contemporary, Sprouting Spaces and Special Situation Funding.

Kid Contemporary exposes children to private art collections. The collector gives a tour, talks about the art and how it was obtained. The children are free to ask questions.

“Kids do wonder, ‘how do you make your money to do this?’ And they leave with that — why the arts and why the art impacted the collector,” he said.

Then came Sprouting Spaces.

“The biggest obstacle artists have today, historically, is space to create because it’s too expensive to create,” Alvarez said. “Some of them are working in really poor conditions, like basements with no ventilation. Some are working in friends’ homes because it’s a very expensive proposition to be able to support the idea of creation that happens in a studio.”

Through the foundation, commercial real estate space is found and negotiated at a discount. The artist pays nothing. The foundation has a one-year lease agreement with Kimco Realty for space in the Wilton River Park Shopping Center. The artist is chosen by two curators and a collector. Alvarez has no role in the selection, which will be announced Dec. 16 at the Wilton center.

Special Situation Funding involves affiliations with world-renowned museums, like the Tate in London and the Louvre in Paris. Spearheading the Tate Frieze Acquisition Fund, Alvarez created awareness and obtained commitments, resulting in the purchase of art for the Tate’s permanent collection.

“I can’t write them a million-dollar check, but I can find people who can,” he said. “That’s an example of giving back.”

Alvarez represented the foundation at a recent first-of-its-kind private dinner at the Louvre attended by gallery owners, curators and collectors. His involvement in the Louvre included partnering with an investor to maintain the exhibition of Joseph Kosuth’s “Ni Apparance Ni Illusion.”

The foundation is now helping the Louvre raise $1 million to return from England King Francois I’s “Book of Hours,” a tome of devotional prayers covered in gold, studded with rubies and turquoise stones. Alvarez believes it’s important for the foundation to help bring the centuries-old book back to France.

Alvarez plans to eventually step away from the day-to-day operation of the gallery to focus on the foundation inspired by his grandmother, who died when he was 16. He is reminded of words he inherited from Clementina: “If you raise your kids with the right values, there’s no limit on what they can do.”